It is the policy of the School Board to limit the use of seclusion and restraint in the education and discipline of students with disabilities to circumstances in which the strategy can be used safely in a manner that is in the best interests of the student with a disability and as defined in this policy.

The use of seclusion on a student with a disability shall not be permitted except when the conditions described in this policy exist. The use of seclusion on a student with disabilities shall also be subject to any conditions in the student's Individual Education Plan (IEP) and any Behavior Intervention Plan (BIP) established for the student in addition to the conditions established in this policy.

School personnel may not close, lock, or physically block a student with a disability in a room that is unlit and does not meet rules of the State Fire Marshal for seclusion time-out rooms. An enclosure used for seclusion of a student shall have the same ceiling height, lighting, ventilation, and temperature as the surrounding room or rooms. The room or enclosure shall be large enough to accommodate the student with a disability being isolated and any other person necessary to accompany that student. The room or enclosure shall not be locked or use any device that requires a key or other device or special knowledge such as a combination lock to exit from the enclosure or room. The enclosure or room shall comply with all applicable health, fire and emergency safety requirements, and the student placed in seclusion shall be included in any evacuation or safety plan or drill for the facility. The enclosure or room shall not be named, labeled, or referred to by a staff member so as to label or stigmatize a student with a disability who is placed in the enclosure or room.

An enclosure or room used for seclusion must be constructed of materials or objects that cannot injure or be used by a student with a disability to injure himself/herself or others. It must be designed so that a student with a disability cannot climb up the walls and shall allow continuous visual monitoring and communication with the student by a staff member. The staff member's duties shall be assigned so that the staff member can supervise the isolated student and see and hear the student at all times. An enclosure or room shall still be considered to be used for seclusion if more than one student with a disability is placed in the room under circumstances that would otherwise qualify as seclusion, and if more than one student with a disability is placed in the room or enclosure, the staff member shall insure that the students do not have the potential to injure one another.

A student with a disability shall not be isolated for more than thirty (30) minutes after the student stops the specific behavior for which seclusion was imposed or any other behavior for which seclusion would be an appropriate response according to this policy. If a student with a disability is placed in seclusion pursuant to a BIP or IEP, the time limitations indentified in the BIP or IEP shall be determined and applied by the staff member immediately following placement of the student with a disability in seclusion.

A student with a disability shall not be subjected to physical or mechanical restraint except as specifically authorized in this policy. Restraint of any kind shall not be used in any instance in which the sole justification is to punish the student for a violation of a directive from a staff member, violation of student conduct rule, the student's use of vulgar or profane language, a verbal threat, or a display of disrespect for another person. A verbal threat shall not be considered as sufficient justification for the use of physical or mechanical restraint unless a student with a disability has immediate access to the means of acting on the threat.

School personnel may not use a mechanical restraint or a manual physical restraint that restricts the breathing of a student with a disability. A restraint shall not be implemented with the intention of using physical pain to achieve control of the behavior or punish misconduct of a student with a disability, and a restraint of any kind shall never be applied in a manner that restricts a the blood flow or respiration of a student with a disability. Failure of a student with a disability to complain or object to a restraint or the successful use of a restraint with another student with a disability shall not justify the use of a restraint.

Physical or mechanical restraint shall not be used if there is a medical contraindication to its use identified for the student with a disability, and shall only be applied and supervised by a staff member who has been trained in the safe application and supervision of the specific means of restraint applied. Application of physical or mechanical restraint to a student with a disability shall take into consideration the IEP and any BIP established for the student.

Physical or mechanical restraint may be used on a student with a disability if an emergency requires the use of the restraint. As used here, "emergency" means circumstances in which a staff member reasonably believes that application of a restraint on the student with a disability is necessary in response to a physical risk of harm to the student with a disability or others.

A mechanical restraint may be used on a student with a disability if the student's treating physician has authorized the use of the mechanical restraint before the restraint is applied. A mechanical restraint shall be applied and supervised by a staff member who is trained and competent to apply and supervise the specific mechanical restraint utilized. While a student with a disability is subject to a mechanical restraint, a staff member shall continuously monitor the student and the impact of the mechanical restraint on the student. If a mechanical restraint is used pursuant to this provision, the physician who authorized or approved the restraint or an attending physician must examine the student with a disability as soon as practicable following application of the restraint. A student with a disability who has been mechanically restrained must be given the opportunity to move and exercise the body parts that are restrained at least ten (10) minutes every sixty (60) minutes of restraint unless ordered otherwise by the physician who authorized or approved the mechanical restraint. If a mechanical restraint is used pursuant to this provision, a staff member shall loosen or discontinue the restraint every fifteen (15) minutes to determine if the restraint is still necessary and its implementation is not endangering the health of the student with a disability. A mechanical restraint shall be stopped immediately if a staff member determines that the student with a disability will stop or control his/her inappropriate behavior without the use of the restraint, the restraint restricts the student's respiration or blood flow, or the degree of the student's resistance to the mechanical restraint is likely to result in serious bodily injury to the student.

A mechanical restraint shall only be used as necessary to contain the behavior of the student with a disability until the student with a disability is no longer an immediate threat of causing physical injury to himself/herself or others or causing severe property damage. The use of force in the application of the restraint shall not exceed the force that is reasonably necessary in the circumstances justifying the use of the restraint.

A student with a disability shall be released from physical or mechanical restraint immediately upon a determination by the supervising staff member administering or overseeing the use of restraint that the circumstances permitting the use of restraint in this policy no longer exist.

Mechanical restraint may only be used on a student with disabilities in circumstances other than the conditions described above if the mechanical restraint is used to address the medical needs of the student, protect a student who is known to be at risk of injury to himself/herself because of a lack of coordination or frequent loss of consciousness, provide proper body alignment to a student, or position a student who has physical disabilities in a manner prescribed in the student's IEP.

In determining whether a student with a disability who is being physically or mechanically restrained should be moved from the area where the need was first noted or the restraint was first applied, the supervising staff member shall consider the potential for injury to the student with a disability, the educational and emotional well-being of the restrained student and other students with disabilities who would observe the application of the restraint, and any requirements of a BIP or IEP established for a student with a disability.

If physical or mechanical restraint is utilized in compliance with this policy on a student with a disability whose primary mode of communication is sign language, the student with a disability shall be permitted to have his/her hands free of restraint for brief periods unless the supervising staff member determines that such freedom is likely to result in harm to the student or others.

No employee of the Board, or person in a school facility shall be permitted to use seclusion, physical or mechanical restraint until the person has received sufficient training in the use of the strategy or procedure to allow the person to utilize the measure safely and in compliance with any IEP or BIP established for a student with a disability.

The Superintendent shall require that staff members responsible for implementing this policy receive training that includes:

The Superintendent shall also require that appropriate training is provided for the immediate supervisors of District employees who are authorized to supervise the use of seclusion or restraints to provide that those measures are only implemented as permitted in this policy.

A school shall prepare an incident report within 24 hours after a student with a disability is released from restraint or seclusion. If the student’s release occurs on a day before the school closes for the week-end, a holiday, or other reason, the incident report must be completed by the end of the school day on the day the school reopens.

The following must be included in the incident report:

A school shall notify the parent or guardian of a student with a disability each time manual physical restraint or seclusion is used. Such notification must be in writing and provided before the end of the school day on which the restraint or seclusion occurs. Reasonable efforts must also be taken to notify the parent or guardian by telephone or computer e-mail, or both, and these efforts must be documented. The school shall obtain, and keep in its records, the parent’s or guardian’s signed acknowledgement that s/he was notified of his/her child’s restraint or seclusion.

A school shall also provide the parent or guardian with the completed incident report in writing by mail within 3 school days after a student with a disability was manually physically restrained or secluded. The school shall obtain, and keep in its records, the parent’s or guardian’s acknowledgement that s/he received a copy of the incident report.

The District shall monitor the use of manual physical restraint or seclusion on students with disabilities and shall collect data including:

Documentation prepared as required in this policy shall be provided to the school principal, the district director of Exceptional Student Education, and the bureau chief of the Bureau of Exceptional Education and Student Services electronically each month that the school is in session.

The data collected shall be used when selecting staff for training, as well as in the preparation of a District plan with the goal of reducing the use of seclusion and restraint in settings in which it occurs frequently or with students who are restrained repeatedly.

The plan shall identify activities, skills, and resources needed to achieve the plan's goal, including the following:

Any revisions to policies and procedures, which must be prepared as part of the school district’s special policies and procedures, must be filed with the bureau chief of the Bureau of Exceptional Education and Student Services no later than January 31st of each year.

In addition to any penalty prescribed by law, the Superintendent is directed by this policy to see that a Board employee who intentionally, knowingly or recklessly violates this policy is subject to correction or disciplinary action as necessary to prevent a reoccurrence of the violation. A Board employee engages in conduct "intentionally" if, when s/he engages in the conduct, it is his/her conscious objective to do so. A Board employee engages in conduct "knowingly" if, when s/he engages in the conduct, s/he is aware of a high probability of a violation of this policy. A Board employee engages in conduct "recklessly" if s/he engages in conduct in violation of this policy in a plain, conscious, and unjustifiable disregard of harm that might result to a student with a disability and the disregard involves a substantial deviation from acceptable standards of conduct established by this policy.

Discipline of a staff member for violation of this policy shall take into account the degree to which the violation risked serious bodily injury to a student with a disability and the staff member's history of compliance with this policy and other Board policies.

No Board employee shall be permitted to retaliate against a person for reporting or objecting to actions in violation of this policy or providing information regarding a violation of this policy.

F.S. 1003.573

Adopted 4/26/11
Revised 12/13/11